Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to wafer and reticle inspection apparatus and methods of using same.
Description of the Background Art
Automated inspection and review systems are important in process control and yield management for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. Such systems include optical and electron beam (e-beam) based systems.
In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, detection of defects early on in the development and fabrication process is becoming increasingly important to shorten product development cycles and increase manufacturing yield. Advanced wafer and reticle inspection systems are being used to detect, review and classify defects and feed the root cause information back into the manufacturing process to prevent these defects going forward. The size of relevant defects is directly proportional to the design rule being applied to the manufacturing of the semiconductor devices. As the design rule being applied continues to shrink, the performance demands on inspection systems increases both in terms of imaging resolution and speed (defects processed per hour).